Me and the kiwi
Me and the Kiwi is the story of an unexpected detour that became the destination. We met on a plane, jumped in a truck two weeks later, and six years on, we’re navigating life together in Buster, our 1973 VW bus. Between Chris’s life as a helicopter pilot and my world as a writer and screenwriter, we’ve built a partnership rooted in adventure. Whether I’m finishing a new script, practicing yoga at a trailhead, or preparing for the April release of my essay collection, Shelter in Motion, this is our life in real-time—a celebration of the bohemian path and the beauty of staying in motion.
Miles Traveled Together
Continents Explored
Vessels Called Home
Sunsets Witnessed
Our Story
The Writer. I’m an award-winning author and screenwriter with a penchant for stories lived along the edges. My upcoming book, Shelter in Motion, launches April 15th, and I’m currently adapting my work for the screen through the Sundance Film Collaboration. Recently awarded a scholarship to the Colgate Writers Conference, I’ll be heading to New York this June to workshop a screenplay adaptation of my work under the mentorship of playwright Kyle Bass. Between penning scripts and practicing yoga at the trailhead, I’m proving that home isn’t a fixed point—it’s a creative practice.
The Kiwi. He’s a helicopter pilot from New Zealand—my partner, my biggest supporter, and the reason this nomadic life takes flight. Chris bought us Buster so we could bridge the gap between his seasonal cockpit and my writing desk. Yeah, he’s definitely a keeper.
The Journey From an airplane seat to a truck cab to a sailboat to a 1973 Sumatra Green Westfalia—we are living proof that shelter isn’t always a building. Sometimes it’s a person. Sometimes it’s a 53-year-old engine. And sometimes it’s choosing the uncertainty of the open road over the comfort of the status quo.
My Book:
Shelter in Motion
“Would you like a shot of crazy to go with that menopause?”
What happens when a professional storyteller, Sundance Scholar, and Colgate Award Winner trades the “chaos of the defined” for a 1989 Ford Econoline E350 named Bubba—and a toolbox she’s still learning to trust?
In Shelter in Motion, Heather Jacks delivers a masterclass in midlife reinvention. This isn’t just a “van life” travelogue; it is a visceral, witty, and deeply human collection of 22 essays—all originally nominated and curated for excellence by Medium.
Think Nora Ephron meets Nomadland: a journey for any bohemian at heart who has ever suspected that “home” isn’t a zip code, but a state of motion. Spanning three distinct, often colliding worlds, Jacks explores life lived outside the lines with raw honesty and a bourbon-dry wit:
- EARLY GROUND: Growing up as a white kid on an Oregon Indian Reservation—navigating the silent lessons of the high desert, the weight of cultural duality, and the roots of a nomadic spirit.
- THE HIGH-DECIBEL LIFE: From the gritty backstages of the music industry to the “Axl Rose fired me” moments, these stories capture the rock-and-roll machine and the high cost of a life lived at full volume.
- LIFE IN MOTION: The mechanical disasters and spiritual triumphs of life in an aging Ford Skoolie. It’s a road map of roadside coffee, the “art of the breakdown,” and the moving encounters with strangers that prove we are never as alone as we think.
Grab your copy today and find your own version of home—one mile at a time.
What Readers Are Saying
Notes In Motion
A weekly letter about life on the move and the stories we tell along the way.
I have spent thirty years living in unconventional spaces—from sailboats to school buses. Now, I’m navigating the road between the desert and the coast, a book launch, and a screenplay. Join me for a weekly dispatch on culture, cinema, and the art of staying in motion.
English 
Spanish